DUBAI, 7th September, 2021 (WAM) -- Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), has said that the pumped-storage hydroelectric power station being built by DEWA in Hatta is 29 percent complete.

The station will have a production capacity of 250 megawatts (MW), a storage capacity of 1,500 megawatt-hours, and a life span of up to 80 years. This is the first station of its kind in the GCC with investments up to AED1.421 billion.

This came during a visit by Al Tayer to the power station accompanied by Nasser Lootah, Executive Vice President of Generation at DEWA; Khalifa Albedwawi, the project manager, and the projects team.

Al Tayer inspected the construction site of the hydroelectric power station and was briefed on the projects progress. The first 37-metre-high Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) wall is now complete at the projects upper dam. The station will use water in the Hatta Dam and an upper dam that is being built in the mountain.

The Hydroelectric power plant is energy storage with a turnaround efficiency of 78.9 percent that utilises the potential energy of the water stored in the upper dam which is converted to kinetic energy during the flow of water through the 1.2-kilometre subterranean tunnel, and this kinetic energy rotates the turbines and converts mechanical energy to electrical energy which is sent to DEWA grid within 90 seconds in response to demand.

Then to store energy again, clean energy generated at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is used to pump the water through this tunnel back to the upper dam by converting the electrical energy to kinetic energy and then finally storing it as potential energy in the upper dam. This makes the whole project 100% renewable.

Al Tayer said that the power plant supports DEWAs efforts to diversify its energy mix. This diversification includes photovoltaic solar panels, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), green hydrogen production using renewable energy, and studies on wind power generation in Hatta.

The hydroelectric power plant is one of DEWAs projects to provide innovative job opportunities for the people of Hatta, and the areas development to meet its social, economic, and environmental needs.

The service tunnelling operations are complete. Each tunnel is 500 metres long. More than 95 percent of the excavation operations of the 1.2-kilometre subterranean water canal have been completed.

He explained that the 60-metre-deep excavation for the area where the generators will be installed is complete. Now, the work to pour concrete has begun, and pouring of the Roller Compacted Concrete for the first part of the 37-metre-high upper dam wall is now complete. The project has completed 4.6 million safe working hours so far without any injuries.

DEWA is also implementing two other pioneering projects in Hatta; namely, Dubai Mountain Peak and Hatta Sustainable Waterfalls. These projects will promote Hattas position as one of the most prominent tourist attractions in Dubai.

Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2021.